Amid apparent overtures from the Trump administration to curb public vaccine criticism ahead of the midterms this fall, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary is allegedly continuing his crusade in the background.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is quietly overseeing a cross-agency push to examine the potential role of vaccines in mounting rates of chronic disease in the U.S.—a common rallying cry among immunization skeptics—according to The New York Times, which spoke to multiple people reportedly familiar with the effort. Those anonymous sources described the inquiry as a top priority for the HHS chief.
The research probe is reportedly being led by Martin Kulldorf, Ph.D., a biostatistician and vaccine safety expert who served on Kennedy’s revamped Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) last year before pivoting to the role of the U.S. health departments’ chief science and data officer, per NYT.
Kennedy has enlisted FDA and CDC career scientists, plus outside contractors providing statistical insights and patient medical record access, according to the report. The inquiry is specifically looking into unconfirmed links between vaccines and various neurological and autoimmune disorders, resurfacing controversial points of investigation such as alleged ties between autism and vaccines, and the potential risks of the increasingly rare flu shot preservative thimerosal.
“At HHS, Secretary Kennedy is executing on President Trump’s commitment to strengthen public health by advancing gold-standard vaccine research,” a spokesperson for the department said in an emailed statement to Fierce. “With scientists at NIH, FDA, CDC, and universities, we are continuing to conduct studies to better understand vaccine safety and efficacy and to assess how vaccine exposure, timing, and patterns affect health across the lifespan.”
Failing to probe those “critical gaps” would constitute “gross negligence by an agency charged with protecting public health and rebuilding public trust,” the statement continued.
The estimated cost of the project at just the CDC is expected to reach $40 million to $50 million, one of NYT’s sources estimated.
The Times’ report comes as Kennedy’s efforts to influence the U.S. vaccine framework have faced legal pushback and criticism from some industry heavyweights—and as the broader Trump administration appears to be at a crossroads with the more staunchly anti-vaccine advocates in Kennedy’s orbit.
Back in March, responding to a lawsuit from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and multiple other medical groups, a federal judge in Boston blocked significant portions of the HHS’ vaccination agenda under Kennedy, placing a stay on appointments to ACIP following the secretary’s reshuffling last year, as well as invalidating controversial changes made to the CDC’s pediatric vaccine schedule at the top of the year.
In issuing his decision, the judge, Brian Murphy, highlighted procedural missteps the government may have made in drafting changes to ACIP and U.S. vaccine schedules.
"[T]here is a method to how these decisions have been made—a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements," Murphy wrote at the time of the previous precedents behind U.S. immunization policy. "Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions."
While ACIP’s current ability to convene and other changes under Kennedy’s HHS remain on ice as the department appeals its loss, Kennedy’s influence over the FDA’s panel of outside vaccine experts—who play a key role in shaping CDC immunization recommendations—continues to be apparent.
In a new charter for ACIP published last month, the group’s focus appears to be homing in more closely on side effects and safety, with the panel now tasked with identifying “gaps in vaccine safety research, including adverse effects following vaccination.”
Members will also be tasked with reviewing new vaccine platforms, such as those based on mRNA.
And while the panel will continue to host members with expertise in drugs, vaccines and immunology, ACIP will also start seeking know-how related to toxicology, childhood neurodevelopment, recovery from serious vaccine injuries, and at least one person with insights into “consumer perspectives” and the social factors involved in immunization programs, according to the charter.